A look into Portland’s expanding art scene

When you get a news release informing you that the “art world cognoscenti” is “abuzz” about something, it’s hard to resist the urge to roll your eyes.

But maybe the folks at Portland Art Focus think I’m sitting on my front porch sofa eating pork rinds and drinking jug wine, waiting for a little enlightenment. So let’s assume their hearts are in the right place, and take a look at what’s got them so excited.

Apparently, the Rose City has caught the attention of those in the know over the last few years, and the art community there has decided to reward these discerning sorts with Portland Art Focus – a campaign to bring together “many of the city’s most dynamic arts organizations in an effort to highlight the quality of work and high-energy activity that is rapidly accelerating Portland’s expanding arts scene.”

The campaign must be working. It has a logo and everything.

This fall, several venues have contributed “rich and relevant programming worthy of attention and notice” to the effort. See if any of this captures your fancy:

•”The Quest for Immortality: Treasures of Ancient Egypt” opens Nov. 5 at the Portland Art Museum. The largest selection of antiquities Egypt has ever loaned for exhibition in North America, the show includes sculpture, jewelry, sarcophagi and other funerary art. Some of the 107 objects have never appeared in public and many others have never been outside Egypt.

The exhibit covers Egyptian beliefs about the afterlife between 1550 and 332 B.C. You’ll find gold and jewels from the royal tombs of Tanis, discovered intact in 1939; an eight-foot-long wooden model of a pharaoh’s river ship from the tomb of Amenhotep II; the Canopic chest of Queen Nedjmet, intended to hold her internal organs; and a reconstruction of the tomb of Thutmose III, Egyptian ruler during the 15th century B.C.

The walls of the latter’s tomb featured the earliest known complete copy of the Amduat, the Book of the Dead reserved for the nobility. Its text describes the journey through darkness into light, detailing the geography of the netherworld.

Photography of unrestored Egyptian monuments and a 12-minute film produced by the National Gallery of Art round out the exhibit, which runs through March 4. The $20 adult (nonmember) and $9 child tickets come with an audio tour narrated by actor Jeremy Irons.

Visit www.portlandartmuseum.org or call (503) 226-2811 to find out more.

•Then follow the art mavens to the Contemporary Crafts Museum and Gallery for “New Embroidery: Not Your Grandma’s Doily,” open until Nov. 12.

It took no fewer than three people to curate this exhibit, which “explores contemporary approaches to embroidery, revealing surprising, humorous, even subversive imagery executed in thread upon vintage fabrics,” according to the museum’s Web site.

They further claim an emergence of a “new domesticity” from, among other spots, the “social arena of punk clubs and coffee shops.”

I’ve long ago inured myself to the academeticization (hey, they make up words all the time) of punk and coffee shops. But, doilies? Really?

See some samples for yourself at www.contemporarycrafts.org. Or call (503) 223-2654 for more information.

•At the Pacific Northwest College of Art, “Illegal Art: Freedom of Expression in the Corporate Age” presents a multimedia look at artists’ legal struggles over copyright. A collaboration with the Portland Institute for Contemporary Art, the exhibit closes on Oct. 21. Visit www.pnca.edu or call (503) 226-4391 if you have questions.

You can learn more about the Portland art scene at www.portlandartfocus.com.

Chance of a ghost?

Normally, you wouldn’t think ghosts make for a good marketing hook.

But it’s that time of year, and Rosario Resort and Spa on Orcas Island is working with what they’ve got.

Their “Halloween at the Mansion” package, available all month on Wednesday and Saturday nights, includes a one-night stay; freshly baked Halloween cookies; credit in the Mansion Dining Room for four people’s worth of Halloween dessert; and a private tour of what they claim is their haunted mansion.

They’ll even take you to the very location where the ghost of former resident Mrs. Rheem is “frequently spotted.”

If that’s not spooky enough for you, from Oct. 28 to Nov. 4, the tour is hosted by Freelance Supernatural Investigations. You’ll see research results and the equipment used to “detect paranormal activity at Rosario” during the ghost busters’ weeklong stay.

OK. If they say so.

Halloween at the Mansion costs $189 for Saturdays and $159 for Wednesdays, based on double occupancy. For reservations, visit www.rosarioresort.com or call (866) 801-ROCK.

Regional events

•Fall Orchid Show and Sale, Nov. 4 and 5, Seattle. They’ll have orchids, people talking about orchids, and art and photography – maybe of orchids. (www.seattlecenter.com; 206-684-7200)

•Holiday Food and Gift Festival, Nov. 18 and 19, Billings. Stock up on candles, photographs, candy, spices, coffee, pottery, jewelry, toys and more. (www.visitmt.com; 800-543-2505)